MEDIA ADVISORY: SENATOR BALL AND SENATOR ZELDIN CALL FOR LEGISLATION THAT WOULD SAVE MONEY FOR MUNICIPALITIES AND LIBRARIES

Brewster, N.Y. – (3/1/12) – Senator Greg Ball (R, C – Patterson) will be joined by Senator Lee Zeldin (R, C, I- Shirley) on Friday to call for a full repeal of the MTA Payroll Tax and full forensic audit of the MTA’s accounting practices.

On December 9, 2011, the New York State Senate passed a bill (S50002), that would repeal the job-killing MTA payroll tax for 80% of the businesses that pay it. Now, the Senators would like to see swift passage of legislation(S6079A/S6206), which would exempt libraries and municipalities from the costly tax.

““There’s no doubt in my mind that if we conduct a forensic audit of the MTA accounting practices we will uncover hundreds of millions of dollars in savings and we will be able to fully repeal the MTA payroll tax once and for all,” Senator Ball said. “We need to work as a community, with our municipal officials, to keep the pressure strong.”

“The job-killing MTA Payroll Tax should have never been implemented in the first place,” Senator Zeldin said. “Repealing this tax, which was a direct tax on jobs in the height of a recession, is of vital importance to our economy. We must continue our efforts toward a full repeal and Senator Martins’ bills to exempt libraries and municipalities are the next step in that process. I am hopeful that the Governor and the Assembly will support these important measures so that we can finally rid these entities of this ill-conceived tax on jobs.”

Senator Ball has been fighting to repeal the tax since it was instated in 2009. As a member of the New York State Assembly, Ball introduced legislation to repeal the tax and audit the MTA.

Who: Senator Greg Ball

What: Bedford Hills Metro-North Train Station

When: March 2nd at 2 p.m.

Where: 46 Depot PlazaBedford Hills, N.Y. 10507

For more information or to speak with Senator Ball, please contact Brittany Serra: (845) 200-9716.